The Hills Run Red (2009 Video) User Reviews

Solid slasher

[ODDBear · 6/10 · 18 November 2009]

In an age where most horror films are either sequels or remakes; one should rejoice when original slashers worth a damn pop up.

"The Hills Run Red" has a knockout hook that sets up quite a decent story. A mysterious "lost" slasher film, called "The Hills Run Red", has many horror fans obsessed with finding it. Such is the case with Tyler, a horror buff, who sets out with his friend and girlfriend to visit the film's locations in order to make a documentary. Along for the ride is the film's notorious director's daughter, Alexa, and once on location the group gets to enliven some true horror.

Good story, solid acting and some decent grue ensure "The Hills Run Red" has some definite highlights and the first half works very well. Present are the irritating "fast-cuts" that have invaded all horror films, it seems, but a decent atmosphere is built and the old "woods-scenario" in slashers never fails when well executed.

A fair amount of jokes and "rulebreakers" enter the film and work surprisingly well (the cell phone bit and the gun (guns are never present in slasher films)) and avoid going over the top. But despite the short running time the film loses steam and goes for one ending too many; both of which aren't too good (don't turn off after the first end credits appear).

"The Hills Run Red" is a solid slasher film for fans of the genre. Most can appreciate the fact that many things are well done here, the film remains faithful to the genre while poking fun at some obvious faults inherent with it and it's quite the gory feast as well. The only ones yawning are not slasher fans to begin with, I think.

Decent direct to video slasher, but falls short of the hype

[fromdusktillcon · 6/10 · 2 October 2009]

Perhaps I went into it expecting a bit too much having been swept up by the hype train, but aside from a strong third act and a show stealing performance by William Sadler, its hard for me to recommend The Hills Run Red as much more than a movie night rental with friends - even if it is a cut above your typical direct to video horror flick.

The stories premise revolves around Tyler (Tad Hilgenbrink), a film aficionado on the hunt to find a completed print of a lost and legendary 80's slasher film, The Hills Run Red, rumored to be the most brutal and gory little horror gem ever created. Enlisting the help of his girlfriend and best friend, Tyler ventures out into the backwoods in search of the holy grail of gruesome, only to soon discover (as it usually goes with movies in this fine genre of ours) that things aren't quite all that they seem. To say much more would be to potentially give away what story there is and ruin a twist or two that The Hills Run Red works itself up to in the first hour of run time.

Many have compared THRR to a cross between Scream and Wrong Turn, but I'm more inclined to argue it has more in common with John Carpenter's Masters of Horror Episode, Cigarette Burns, than the aforementioned Wed Craven franchise. Fans of the now defunct Showtime series will immediately recognize the not too subtle similarities in the story between Cigarette Burns and THRR, as well as the over the top gore sequences which stand out as big pluses in both films (even if shoddy CGI threatens to ruin a few scenes in the latter). Furthermore, despite being somewhat of a love letter to the horror genre, THRR never quite goes as far in its self awareness and fan boy masturbation as Scream, and quite honestly, this movie is much better off for it. Aside from that, there isn't anything done particularly well here, or at least not better than anything you haven't already seen in any of the source material the film pays homage to. Even the movie's protagonist, "Babyface," looks a bit too inspired by the killer in Dark Ride.

On a positive note, the movie's hands down highlight is William Sadler (most will remember him as Death in Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey), who absolutely steals every scene he is in, even if he isn't given enough to do as the lost film's, reclusive and maniacal director. Sadler alone makes the film worth watching, though I'd be hard pressed to recommend The Hills Run Red as more than a rental to be enjoyed with a few friends and a couple of beers. Like other recent direct to video slashers like Hatchet and Laid to Rest, this one comes with a lot of promise but does little to separate itself from the rest of the crop.

Review by Mr. Chainsaw For more of the best genre film reviews, news, opinion articles, and forums, check out www.FromDuskTillCon.com.

Surprisingly entertaining "B" movie slasher flick

[KineticSeoul · 6/10 · 23 April 2010]

This is a pretty good "B" slasher movie, and was actually entertaining for most part and the nudity especially by elevates it. Because in slasher movies such as this, the plot doesn't matter as much although it's decent in this film for a slasher flick. The plot was interesting and the acting wasn't that bad either, it can be said the same for the atmosphere and there were some good tense moments as well. The story is about a wannabe slasher director who goes on a hunt for a film called The Hill Run Red, which is said to be the most brutal and gruesome slasher flick from the 80's. So him and his friends venture out into the woods to find it, but they are in for more than they bargained for. Although some people that aren't into these types of genre might be turned off by it, but for those that are slasher fans will most likely enjoy. Even if it could have been been better, it was still surprisingly entertaining and is worth checking out, especially for slasher fans.

6.3/10

Backwoods Horror the 10.000th

[dschmeding · 3/10 · 26 September 2009]

OK, the opening of "the hills run red" is pretty good but from there on I was constantly wondering what the hell the director was trying to do. Honestly with a title like this you can only expect a spoof movie and the whole stupid idea of a horror fan following the legend of a 20 year old horror movie that never aired because its so sick and the director got lost while filming... well, kind of reminded me of CigaretteBurns meets Chainsaw Massacre meets DarkRide (because the killer Babyface looked exactly like the killer in that movie). Funny thing is that there is no real reference to "the hills have eyes" and the spoof I was expecting is kind of there because there are many hints to horror clichés like the non-functioning mobile phones and a whole monologue about the stupidity of horror movie victims. Anyway this is a pretty ordinary backwoods horror movie with a evil masked killer, a house in the woods and the plot of the director and the movie... and his daughter. You can smell the plot twist from miles away and there is not even much gore except for some scenes that keep repeating. There's regularly strange scenes which are intended to be funny like when the killer just uses a gun instead of wielding a chainsaw or machete. Particularly one scene was so stupid but nevertheless shown so normal I was wondering if that was a joke or just incredibly ridiculous (considering this is a horror movie that sure can be considered possible). A girl flees from the killer and ends up in the shed where the corpses of previous murders are stored. She hides in a barrel full of blood and guts until the murder leaves and then cleans herself off and takes a new shirt from one of the corpses to walk back into action barely showing any blood. What the hell... if these scenes were supposed to be funny they made a hell of a job not to have the viewer laugh. I have seen worse movies for sure but if a movie jumps the wagon of a dead repetitive genre with overused clichés and fails like this to be any smart or new (like I said there obviously are dozens of stolen ideas from other movies) you can just watch the opening and the cool trailer of the movie in the movie and spare yourself 90 more minutes of a horror clip show and a lame ending that sums up another annoying thing about "the hills run red". Ridiculously overacted screaming girls... again not quite funny, maybe they were supposed to be. I don't care.

A Slasher That Cuts Through the Bull

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 4 October 2009]

Tyler (Tad Hilgenbrink), a film student, hopes to track down a legendary film, the titular "Hills Run Red", which was lost and is rumored to be the most violent horror film ever. He finds Alexa (pop star Sophie Monk), the director's daughter, and they go on a hunt to the very heart of cinematic evil.

Director Dave Parker (best known for Full Moon's "The Dead Hate the Living!") has done it, making the film of his career. I don't mean to discourage Parker from making more films, but I find it hard to believe he could match this level of intensity again. The action, the violence, the gore... as far as slashers go, this was the pinnacle. There were a few good ones in the past few years ("Hatchet" was alright, "Behind the Mask" was very good, "Hack" was amazing). This may be the best yet.

For horror fans in my generation, the last great decade for horror was the 1980s. Anything since then has been largely rubbish. In "Hills Run Red", we have people who know this, that emulating the 80s is the best way to make a successful and enjoyable picture. The added story of tracking down an obscure film from the 80s is even better.

You may think the slasher film is dead, especially if your name is Adam Rockoff. But the "Friday the 13th" remake tried to prove otherwise, and this film sealed the deal. The days of "torture porn" are coming to an end, though "Hills" does give a nod to that subgenre, too. The only thing missing is the hand-held subgenre, but I can personally do without that, as I can only recall one good film of that sort (Ruggero Deodato's "Cannibal Holocaust").

I have to point out this is William Sadler's darkest role ever, and he plays it well. Quite a difference from Death in "Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey". But the real honor goes to Sophie Monk (who, I can personally attest, is a sweetheart). She plays a stripper, a heroin addict, the daughter of a demented auteur. With a past in pop music, this is a big departure and she rides it like a pro. While I don't suspect Sophie will be a horror regular, she'd be welcome if she wanted to come back.

See this movie. Worth owning, but if nothing else, rent it. Great addition to any collection, this is what horror fans crave.

Unfortunately didn't run out of filmtape

[p-stepien · 3/10 · 14 October 2011]

Back in the 1980s famous great horror aficionado Wilson Wyler Concannon (William Sadler) was renowned for no movies whatsoever apart from one that wasn't even released, as it went missing. That movie is "The Hills Run Red", a story about Baby-Face, a guy who cut off his own face and sewed on a dolls mask to replace it and soon afterwards goes on a horror rampage. Enticed by the story and hoping that it becomes his own claim to fame aspiring director Tyler (Tad Hilgenbrink) decides to track down the long lost picture and its infamous director. This leads him to Concannon's daughter Alexa (the beautiful and oft naked Sophie Monk), now working as a stripper in a biker's pub. After convincing her to partake in his endeavour he takes a camera and two filmmaker friends to retake that which had been forgotten.

Dark Castle Entertainment has an unrivaled gift of releasing crappy horror flicks in succession with the odd gem hidden behind a cascade of crappiness. This one unfortunately flows down straight to the gutter together with flicks such as "The Reaping" or "Thirteen Ghosts". The main flaw of all these seems to be exceptionally poor character development and script inadequacies substituted by extreme gore. This time around we actually have a lot of promise in the movie, which runs like a "Friday the Thirteen" ripoff for large parts of its runtime, only to counterpoint this with some "Scream" type movie references. Some scenes hilariously hit the spot, with Baby-Face's out-of-character response to one of the hapless victims a delightful highlight of this otherwise poor movie.

Despite some admirable qualities the twist introduced two-thirds into the movie largely fails. In a big part due to the incapability of William Sadler and Sophie Monk to carry their roles. Their bickering about the art of horror films is irritating and badly written, which doesn't help in the plot resolution, as this was the issue that would either carry or drown the movie (especially the poorly scripted debate between old-fashioned slashers and modern gorno).

It isn't entirely a waste of time and those fans of over-the-top gore (occasionally going into gorno territory), but given the limited emotional involvement and the sub-par payoff it seems like a wasted opportunity for a decent horror. As it is I would suggest passing and seeking out the Rob Zombie "House of 1000 Corpses".

What Scream did to slasher movies...

[krigler · 6/10 · 30 May 2009]

...The Hills Run Red does for torture porn flicks. This horror subgenre has been going downhill for a while now, rapidly losing any kind of semblance of a subtext or deeper meaning and only giving its viewers what a lot of them no doubt crave: meaningless and increasingly graphic gore. That the genre got to the point of self-reflexivity may be a good sign - perhaps the dumb torture porn wave is ready to disappear from the mainstream (though the fact that this film is straight-to-DVD might not get it the recognition it deserves). This is not Haneke territory, though - nor it should be -, nevertheless The Hills Run Red provides a nice sarcastic commentary on the shock- and blood-craze of recent mainstream horror cinema. Its philosophy, albeit none too deep, provides a refreshing change of course from similar films. (And dare I say makes its point just as powerfully as the so-called "auteurs" do with their not much subtler films about violence, who get a nice stab in the movie - not literally, though.) Directing is skillful for the most part, however, the level of acting gradually becomes way over the top and hysterical, which is a shame. I wonder when horror directors learn that this kind of bad stage acting style just kills the atmosphere. Crazy psychos can be much more threatening when they are subdued and quiet. All in all, Hills Run Red is a surprisingly solid horror film with more brain than most flicks in its genre. It is taut and its brevity is welcome as well. My only problem is that the plot twist in the second act is totally spoiled by the preview material. It's a huge shame, because it works tremendously in the film but of course only if one goes in unsuspecting.

Got my hopes up for nothing

[jonadonni · 2/10 · 27 September 2009]

I was really looking forward to this movie after reading the plot summary. The movie failed on every level. The pacing was terrible, the acting so so bad i couldn't stay focused on anything. When they watched this after the final edit, did they not care about all the plot holes. Its not extremely graphic to warrant what people are saying about it. The violence in this is used just for the sake of using it and feels wasted at times. The only good thing worth watching is baby face after he takes the mask off, very creepy looking and could have been used much better. The movie itself looked cheap and made for TV like. I have read that the director really thinks this is a work of ART. Sorry my friend, you need to watch some French or Spanish directors at work.

I was expecting a little more exploitation, and a lot less CGI.

[Strawberry_Typhoon · 6/10 · 30 September 2009]

The Hills Run Red (2009) After reading several reviews for The Hills Run Red offering high praise, I suppose my hype meter kicked in. I was told that it was gritty, grimy, and uber-violent. Sounds good right?

The story follows Tyler(Tad Hilgenbrink: Amusement) as he develops an obsession with an 80's slasher film called The Hills Run Red. Legend has it, that it was immediately pulled from theaters after it was shown, due to a strong reaction to the violence shown on screen. Since then, all people involved in production have mysteriously disappeared. After some internet browsing, Tyler manages to get a line on the director's daughter, whom is showing off her beautiful natural breasts at a strip club. The plan is, find the daughter, get her to help him find the movie.

The Hills Run Red is one of those films that I realize is a cut above most straight to DVD horror films, and I DID enjoy the film. I guess I just felt a little disappointed. I was expecting a little more exploitation, and a lot less CGI. The kills are inventive, but is almost killed by the CGI work. This is the type of film that you NEED practical effects for.

Acting is good across the board, most notable is Sophie Monk, who plays Alexa. Sophie is a stunning natural beauty. Nothing like seeing some meat on the bones instead of the current skeletal Hollywood trend. The pacing is excellent, the cinematography is top notch.

As I said, it's a great film, and I highly recommend it, I guess I was just expecting something different. I'm going to have to knock it down a point though for the shoddy CGI work. Get a clue up and coming film makers, there is no substitute for well done practical effects. CGI will NEVER replace the rubber suit, and fake blood.

3/5 -napalmfuzz

http://liberaldead.blogspot.com

Weak Horror, dull Gore, silly Plot. Just garbage

[MandarinaMelies · 2/10 · 28 February 2013]

(No significant spoilers, actually) This movie is really, really bad. Even if you tell me the Budget was 1.5 million, It's a waste. Straight-to-DVD is the only destiny this flawless film could deserve, despite it should never have been made.

First of all: it violates one of the main principles of every decent movie (including of course Horror movies), which consist on revealing the kind of movie it is and settle the film's tone and climate at the first 5 minutes. The Hills Run Red, by the contrary, is a Horror, Slasher film, with no murders, neither violence, during the first 30 minutes! Not even any kind of intense darkness (unless you consider a short scene of a stripper using heroine is dark and intense for a Horror film of the 21th Century).

Second: the acting is awful!!! Almost annoying. The exception is Sadler (who nearly doesn't appear in the first half of the movie).

The plot is garbage. The altruistic way the stripper, Tyler's cheating girlfriend, and Tyler's traitor "friend" decide to help him with his crusade is simply ridiculous. The reaction of Tyler to the cheating and the betrayal suggests that producer's dog ate some pages of the script. Then you have some pathetic attempts to gain depth with far-fetched dialogues explaining incest and ambition issues (similar to the villain exposing his plans to the hero in cartoons), combined with revelation of artificial "pervert" behaviors linked to sadistic filming and monsters breeding.

The killings, the ways the good ones escape, and the tricks of the bad ones, are all extremely artificial (but not even filmed in a comic way: just artificial boring garbage). And the "gore" scenes are less interesting and less intense than in Hostel.

In addition, the Topic of the movie (obsession, and all the things you may sacrifice for it) is tackled in a soft, dull way. And the most interesting character, Concannon, has a too secondary role.

The positive: a little bit of nudity from Sophie Monk (strange face, lovely tits; forget about a long scene building a really sexy climate: just flawless nudity), a nice sex scene with Janet Montgomery, and a scene with a short dark moment of son-mother love (normal love, not incest).

The 5,5 IMDb users' rating is extremely generous, unfair. Even in Cinema Terror and Bloody Good Horror it gets 3/10. The 5,5 rating is obviously inflated by radical Fanatics of Slasher sub-culture. Indeed, for example, one of the reviewers who rated the film with an unbelievable 8 (eight!!!!) stated himself "t's a great movie for film geeks and horror buffs all around, and a sly poke at the gore-nography sub genre culture." Trivia: the Director, the Screenwriters and some of the actors have (before and after this movie) no career in films.

Superior slasher horror fare

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 24 June 2012]

A group of young horror film fans led by the earnest and obsessive Tyler (a solid and likable performance by Tad Hilgenbrink) venture into the deep woods in search of the location where a legendary "lost" splatter fright flick was shot twenty years ago. The group discover that the killer in said feature is the real deadly deal and more than happy to meet new aficionados who are willing to die for his art. Director Dave Parker, working from a sick, compact, and ingenious script by David J. Schow, relates the absorbing story at a brisk pace, creates and sustains not only a genuinely creepy atmosphere, but also a strong feeling of dread and a good deal of tension, delivers a generous sprinkling of yummy bare distaff skin as well as a handy helping of graphic and unflinching in-your-face nasty gore, and tosses in shocking elements of snuff, torture, and incest to further spice up an already tasty'n'twisted cinematic stew. Better still, Parker maintains a grimly serious take-no-prisoners sensibility that becomes more increasingly bleak, dark, and unsettling as the harsh plot unfolds a powerfully disturbing surprise bummer ending. The fine acting from the capable cast rates as another sterling asset: William Sadler contributes a top-rate turn as deranged and reclusive director Concannon, gorgeous blonde Sophie Monk likewise excels as the equally unhinged, but sexy and enticing psycho junkie slut Alexa, Danko Jordanov cuts a scary figure as ferocious disfigured killer Babyface, plus there's sound work by fetching brunette Janet Montgomery as the sassy Serina and Alex Wyndham as the sarcastic Lalo. The startling outbursts of raw brutal violence pack a savage kick to the gut. Ilan Rosenberg's sharp cinematography provides a pleasing polished look. Frederick Wiedmann's shuddery score does the bone-rattling trick. Recommended viewing for slice'n'dice fans.

Fun, Scary, Gory, Great

[noway234-1 · 12 October 2009]

I could not stop watching this movie and really I never wanted it to end. From the opening titles beautifully underscored by a very creepy sounding version of "Hush little baby" this film dragged me in with is beautiful style and how creepy it was (I'm not gonna give away the first scare but it's incredibly well done and while at first seems random and pointless they do explain why it's there towards the end.

The story uses one of the new standards of horror cinema, the idea of a movie that was made in the 80's but had to stop production due to murders on set. While this isn't a new concept, Cut did it 9 years ago, both the Short film and the feature length with the same title played on the idea of horror films becoming reality, it is a refreshing spin on the tale.

The cast consists of your stock set of horror film characters, from the junkie to the slutty girl but really if you come to a horror movie for characters then you really don't belong here. This film is about the scares, and they come rapid fire.

Sophie Monk in particular delivers a performance that I never thought I'd see her deliver after I saw Date Movie. She makes you love her from the moment she pop's on screen and you root for her the whole way through. She proves how smart she can be with choosing a role with her performance in here and really I reckon if she chooses more roles like this she'll prove she's an actress and not just a great body.

For you gore-hounds, there's blood and gore galore from pretty much start to finish. One of the things that this film does better than a lot of others like it is make the gore scary. Some times you can tell that gore is there just cos they can but that doesn't happen here. Every piece of blood is needed to make the story work like it does and add's to the effectiveness of the movie.

If you can get a copy of this movie do it, don't sit around and wait for a friend to loan it to you go and get it now. One of the few films I really wanna see a sequel for.

The Neverending Horror Movie

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 16 November 2009]

Tyler (Tad Hilgenbrinck) is obsessed by the horror movie "The Hills Run Red", considered by those that had seen it the scariest movie ever made, with the deranged serial-killer Babyface (Danko Iordanov) in the lead role. However, the director Wilson Wyler Concannon (William Sadler) and the movie vanished many years ago and there is no available print. His research is affecting his relationship with his girlfriend Serina (Janet Montgomery) that is needy and feels neglected. When Tyler discovers that Concannon's daughter Alexa (Sophie Monk) works in a night-club, he decides to meet her and asks about the missing movie. The woman tells that the movie might be in her father's house in the middle of the woods, and Tyler decides to travel to the spot with Alexa, Serina and their friend Lalo (Alex Wyndham). Along their journey, Tyler films and interviews some locals. During the night, they are attacked by the rednecks, but they are saved by Babyface that kills the assaulters and is controlled by Alexa that runs away from him. Tyler, Serina and Lalo get rid off the ropes, but Tyler decides to help Alexa, disclosing fate of the movie.

The gore "The Hills Run Red" is a movie with potential of cult for fans of slasher movies. The gruesome story is original regarding the search of Tyler for the movie and has a great surprise when he discovers the secret about the Concannon's family. William Sadler has a great performance in the role of the insane director and Babyface is a scary character. The conclusion is extremely macabre and dark, and I believe that fans of this genre will like this movie very much like I did. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Colinas de Sangue" ("Hills of Blood")

Dreadful Movie

[JoeB131 · 1/10 · 12 October 2009]

Badly written, badly acted, nothing to really redeem it.

The story was about a slasher film in the 1980's that was pulled from theaters and has never been seen since. A trio of filmmakers decide they are going to find him, and they meet up with his daughter, a drug addict working in a strip club. Even though they comment on the absurdity of the setup, they proceed to go into the deep woods where people in movies like this always end up going off to die.

What we get is after introducing what seem like kind of likable characters, we are treated to an hour of unremitting gore and overall ickiness... and not worth your time to watch unless you are a high-grade masochist.

Joe B. Watching Bad Movies so you don't have to.

The Hills Run Red With Silliness

[thecinemaview · 3/10 · 4 October 2009]

The hype surrounding "The Hills Run Red" is really the most impressive aspect of this film. Mr. Disgusting of "Bloody-Disgusting" called it "a really solid horror film that many horror fans will be pleasantly surprised with." Gareth Jones of "Dread Central" adds to that, saying, "If you're a fan of slasher flicks, or even just truly inventive and twisted horror, you owe it to yourself to pick it up." Doesn't that sound absolutely wonderful? Could it be that there is a straight-to-disc horror film that actually delivers the goods? Having bought into the hype, I eagerly anticipated this film and began to watch it with a sense of giddy excitement…only to find that it is actually quite bad. No, that is a little too nice. "The Hills Run Red" is undeniably terrible. Its initial premise is basic and fascinating. A young documentarian, trying to track down a supposedly horrifying film that has been missing for decades, heads to its shooting location with the director's daughter, only to discover that the disturbing images in the film were actually real. But then, this story becomes mired in weird plot twists and an unnecessary sense of strangeness.

Read My Full Review Exclusively At: www.thecinemaview.blogspot.com

Hush, Little Baby, Don't Say A Word Daddy's Gonna Make You A Messed Up Movie

[Coventry · 7/10 · 21 December 2009]

Hmm, I definitely second what my pal and fellow reviewer TheatreX stated in his user comment! I am a devoted fan of horror genre as well and I also get a kick out of tracking down hidden gems that are extremely obscure or even considered "lost", but after seeing this film, I must make a mental note to never ever go and fanatically seek for lost backwoods slashers myself! That is what the basic plot of "The Hills Run Red" is all about. Tyler is a horror fan and amateur documentary maker obsessed with the idea of finding a horror film that was taken out of circulation shortly after its release, allegedly because it was too shocking and gruesome, as well as the director Wilson Wyler Concannon who mysteriously vanished as well. He convinces two friends and even the director's daughter, who nowadays is a heroin junkie and works as a stripper, to drive out to the middle of nowhere region where the movie was shot in the early 80's. Deep down in those backwoods, the foursome discovers that the film is real and never fully got completed. The maniacal killer from the trailer, referred to as Babyface, still prowls the area and butchers all trespassers in horribly painful ways. "The Hills Run Red", from director Dave Parker who previously made the hugely entertaining zombie flick "The Dead Hate the Living!" comes as a pleasant and refreshing little surprise in the overall worn out slasher genre. Especially the first half is compelling and innovative; at least if you're an obsessive horror fan yourself like I explained here above. All the little bits and footage and trivia details of the inexistent lost horror movie are truly fascinating. Supposedly "The Hills Run Red" revolved about a killer who cut off his own face as a child, because his stepfather said he was ugly, and replaced it with a doll mask. Director W.W. Concannon was a reputed freak who used real blood from a nearby slaughterhouse and hired a local retard to play the killer. The second half, meaning as soon as the main characters are confronted with the killer and have to run for their lives, feels a lot more like familiar slasher territory again with some implausible and grotesque plot twists as well as a few derivative clichés. Nevertheless, even then "The Hills Run Red" still transcends the majority of backwoods slashers because it literally oozes with perversion and sheer nastiness. The film is chock- full of macabre set pieces, harsh gore, lurid sleaze and vicious undertones like incest and mutilation. Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't these trademarks exactly what the horror genre is all about? Add to all this a creepy horror lullaby that continuously gets repeated ("Hush, little baby, don't say a word…") and a downright depressing climax and you got yourself perhaps even a future classic. The basic premise is reminiscent to the John Carpenter's Masters of Horror episode "Cigarette Burns", but it's more properly elaborated and a lot more identifiable, and it was fun seeing B-movie veteran William Sadler star in gloriously demented role again. Recommended.

The Hills Have A Grasp Of Generic B-List Horror

[rubadubdub31 · 1/10 · 24 October 2009]

Upon first hearing about the film, a lot like most people, I was rather excited and hoping it would meet up with other horror / slasher films that are out at the moment.

Sadly that is not the case, instead we find ourselves thrown into a completely generic and (reasonably) predictable film. Filled with Nursery rhymes and china dolls and all kinds of other useless attempts at making the film just a bit more creepy.

Also for those of you that have watched it, a bit that really shows that they did little or no research is when the daughter of the director comes off heroin in "a couple of days" and suddenly she is just a normal functioning person (Which is certainly far from the truth, it is not that easy at all)

The Hills have cameras

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 13 October 2009]

It's obvious that this movie was made for a genre loving audience. If you like horror movies (Slasher movies in particular), you will be delighted with this one. Even the fact, that it has a movie-within-a-movie thing going on, won't disappoint you. That's because it is done pretty good here and the movie does not try to be too clever for it's own good.

It isn't flawless though (imo), especially during the end, where the uber-villain loses a bit of his mystery and therefor comes off a bit tamer, than he should have been portrayed. But those little things, won't be a distraction if you're a fan. And even though there might be an unrated cut somewhere along the line (there is one, but Warner might not release it ever), the "R"-rated cut is pretty strong and definitely not for the faint-hearted! A pretty solid movie then, that is worth a look!

Movie is total crap

[pallurameg · 1/10 · 7 July 2019]

The film had potential, but screwed it up. The twist was predictable and the ending was inconclusive. This is annoying, at best, in a horror film. It was a waste of my time.

An original slasher that delivers the goods!

[pra-741-795464 · 7/10 · 25 January 2011]

The Hills Run Red is a slasher/horror film and it is one of the best of its kind to be released in a long time. The Hills Run Red is a perfect slasher film. It is very bloody and it has a villain that feels like a classic villain just like Jason Voorheese and more. The film is scary and tense and has a lot of unexpected twists. The acting is very good and a special compliment goes to Sophi Monk who is very believable in this role. The kills are good and the concept for the film is an original one and very cool. I want to see more of Babyface and I hope there will be a sequel. This film is bloody, sexy, funny, scary and good film to watch with friends on a Friday night. I give it 7/10 and hope horror and slasher fans will support it!

The poorest movie I've seen in a long time

[Scodelli · 4/10 · 9 March 2023]

I saw this movie because a horror streamer I follow gave it a glowing recommendation.

Unfortunately it very poorly done.

The way the premise is portrayed is quite unconvincing.

This young guy is obsessed with an obscure horror movie that is notorious for being terrifyingly scary. But the director went missing, none of the actors can be found and the film footage itself has been lost. He wants to find this notorious film that has been lost.

Not a bad premise at all actually but it is introduced/portrayed so poorly.

And that's a thing about this movie. The overall story itself is actually not bad. It's actually sort of original and good.

But the directing is terrible.

The dialogue is poorly written.

The script in general, particularly how the characters relate inter-personally, is so bad, even by horror movie standards.

10 minutes into the movie there is an avalanche of nudity. Comes out of nowhere and is extremely gratuitous. Whatever I guess.

The relational drama in the movie is so simplistic and heavy handed. Just revolving around sex. And as I said, the dialogue and how the characters relate and the interpersonal stuff is so poorly handed.

Now the thing about this movie is that the overall story is not bad. It's actually fairly good. But the execution of this movie is so bad.

The ending goes hard, but it is not enough to save the movie.

This could have been a good movie if the directing, scripting, dialogue, etc.. were not so awful.

To give you an idea, Halloween 5 is a decidedly better movie than this.

Now this movie does go hard with the ending.

There's some moderately gnarly gore/violence.

The end of the story is pretty disturbing.

But the movie is so poorly made that the story and ending can't save it.

And even during the ending it is still very flawed.

This was one of those movies that are so bad they're good...

[matttieee123 · 8/10 · 21 January 2010]

...And I loved every second of it! What really annoys me is watching a really horrible B grade slasher flick and then wanting those hours of my life back. This was NOT one of those movies! It was funny, and horrifying and what a real slasher movie is supposed to be. It didn't focus on gore, but it actually molded together a structured story line and the violence and scares eased themselves into it. The acting was really impressive from a B list group of actors. I recommend this movie to people wanting a fun, gory sex horror that doesn't take itself too seriously like the ones that do and FLOP. Go and see this movie, you won't regret it.

Good for what it is

[Michael-d-duncan · 7/10 · 12 October 2009]

I found this movie to be far better than I really expected. I've read so many BAD reviews that I didn't want to see it, but when I found myself in the mood for a stupid horror movie, I checked it out. It think what I found greatly refreshing is the fact that this film acknowledges that the audience has probably seen this kind of thing before and then flaunts this fact. You have the prime suspects for the killer, you might even be right but since they are making fun of your ability to predict, how sure can you be that you're right? This is the only horror movie that I've ever seen where the cell phones worked! They call 911! (doesn't help really...).

People talked about the pacing of this film and such, I honestly don't care. The film is short (under an hour thirty), the action is fairly fast paced and they don't try to hide anything other than the killer's Identity.

The gore did not live up to expectations, which for me is good. I'm not a fan of straight up gore flicks. The nudity was exactly what I figured. It came and then went, which is exactly what I was hoping for. Pointless nudity is just that... pointless. There is one extended scene of overt sexuality and nudity and then it goes away. The acting was not the greatest of all time but lest remember.... THIS IS A HORROR FILM.

All things considered. Take a rainy night, eat some popcorn, and don't expect some sort of fantastic social commentary and you'll have a good time.

A true (non-PG) "Horror Movie" - just not a great one.

[oneguyrambling · 5/10 · 6 November 2010]

I was feeling good about the proposition of watching The Hills Run Red, as I only watched it after reading some very positive DVD reviews giving it a boost.

The opening scene only ramped up my anticipation too, it set a tone that at least told me this wasn't going to be a PG 13 snoozefest and set a solid standard that I hoped the remainder of the film might aspire to.

The bad news – That didn't happen.

The good news – The movie wasn't awful at least... but just barely.

We open with credits interspersed with "cuts" of a young kid calmly taking the scissors to his own face in fairly graphic and gory detail. As yet we have no idea why but it serves as an effective opening scene which at least tells us this isn't going to be Prom Night 2: Prom Queen's Revenge.

The plot that brings Victims A through D into the sphere of Killer A involves aspiring filmmakers and their efforts to track down an infamous but reclusive director who made a particularly gory - and subsequently banned - horror film in the 80s.

The film was conveniently call The Hills Run Red, and all that exists is a crappy trailer, we are told this by words on the screen, as explaining events and actions through plot takes valuable time and we need to get to the boobies and gore.

The killer in the film was named Babyface, who cut off his own face and sewed a dead eyed expressionless doll's face over the top of what remained.

Watching the trailer through the eyes of one of the filmmakers gave no cause for alarm, and definitely no reason as to why the thing was banned, but here we once again obey the convention of if the film says it was too gory, then it was too gory. (This is usually utilised with master criminals, who do nothing that suggests intelligence or genius but we believe they are because we are told so.) A young filmmaking dude named Travis tracks down the daughter of the director, who in a fortunate twist of cinematic convenience is a young blonde hottie who strips for a living. Of course he goes to meet her at "work", so that they might talk shop over a lapdance... No complaints here.

The stripper Alexa takes Tyler home and offers herself up to him, Tyler refuses as he recognises that Alexa is a full blown junkie, so rather than hopping aboard he does the right thing and puts her through a 30 second detox montage to sober her up so that she may be of some use later in the film.

Meanwhile his flatmate Gabe humps the crap out of Tyler's girlfriend Serina in a variety of positions in Tyler's flat. (Shoulda taken the offer man!) For some reason this is never touched on for the rest of the film. His best mate plowed his girlfriend! They didn't use that info to justify a difficult decision or a uncomfortable reveal later in the film? So after the magical detox capabilities offered by a montage Alexa joins the three others to embark upon a junket to visit all the main sites used in filming the original film, hoping to uncover something that helps lead them to the director I guess.

They interview locals who somehow haven't moved in 27 years, some of them looking like they are in their mid 30s, which means they were under 10 when the movie was made and shouldn't have been around anyway.

This brief sequence takes them near the deserted homestead where the main sequences were filmed, I say near as they seemed to walk for a long while to find the house, in the dark of course.

As they camp for the night it is obvious that they are being watched… and this is always where the alleged fun starts.

They are beset by a group of rednecks that they interviewed earlier, keen to do a little filmmaking of their own with Alexa as the unwilling star, only they are rudely interrupted - and killed - by none other than Babyface.

Oh come on, that isn't a spoiler. We all knew he was coming.

Then we have 20 more minutes of gore, blood, some more inexplicable nudity (again no complaints) and a few twists that might be shocking if you've never seen a movie before.

The surprising part of all this is that Sophie Monk (Alexa) - a teen pop star in Australia as a result of those manufactured for a TV show groups - can sorta act, and she isn't averse to taking her gear off a few times too if you disagree.

She does need to lay off the Botox though, her lips are so big that she had to start saying her line as the other actor gave her the lead in line, as it took a few seconds to arrive past the Jaggeresque flappers. The other surgery that she has obviously had is hard to fault though... Both of them.

After the great first couple minutes it was a little disappointing that the film allowed itself to end up nothing more than a running-around-chased-by-a-freak-with-a-knife screamfest.

Another not really interesting fact is that the film was made in Czechoslovakia. Or Bulgaria. Or one of the other 'garias, Hungaria? As the credits rolled I have never seen so many surnames ending with V, (Kabakov, Jankov etc.) Final Rating – 5.5 / 10. After the opening face-peeling scene the only reason to hang around is my fascinating fact involving film crew members whose name ends with "v". If that convinces you to bother with the rest I am sorry.

If you liked this review (or even if you didn't) check out oneguyrambling.com

Rebirth...

[azathothpwiggins · 23 September 2020]

In the 1980's, a movie called THE HILLS RUN RED played once, before vanishing forever. Now, a horror movie geek named Tyler (Tad Hilgenbrinck) is on a quest to track down this legendary film. Unfortunately, he and his friends are about to uncover more than they could have ever imagined.

HILLS isn't just another slasher movie with yet another murdering icon. While "Babyface" is formidable, he is NOT the center of the story, nor is he the most terrifying aspect thereof. Nothing is as it appears to be, and anything can happen! This movie is full of foreboding mystery and twists to augment the grisly terror. It's as much a send-up / satire of the genre as it is an homage film. William Sadler is outstanding as Concannon, the reclusive Director of the titular movie.

Recommended for horror fans looking for something different...